Several WF Kensei Questions

[axel15810]

I have an old THF WF Kensai toon I'm thinking of playing again.

1) What are the major differences and pros/cons to a Kensei vrs a Barb? I've never played a barb.
2) On a WF Kensei...are the 2nd and 3rd tiers of healers' friend worth it? 10 AP for 10% healing amp seems expensive.
3) Does the Quickdraw feat remove the casting time of Kensei Power Surge and Fighter Haste Boost?
4) How important is the Fighter Critical Accuracy enhancement? How much does this actually contribute to the % chance of a getting a critical?
5) How important are the WF tactics enhancements and fighter strategy enhancements (how much do the enhancements increase the success rate?) and do they stack with each other?
6) Any use in taking any of the WF DR enhancements?


Thanks!

[Morlen]

1) No real answer for you. Plenty of differences that could be looked at in depth. Mostly just comes down to preference.
2) I would say they aren't worth it. Take the first rank and then get some gear. (Levvik's Bracers, or a Dragontouched docent w/ 10 and 20 percent.
3) I don't know. ^_^
4) I think you have to take some of the enhancement line for Kensai? But other than that, not worth it at all. They only contribute to the confirm critical (like the feat Power Critical) and don't add to the damage at all. A lvl 20 fighter should be confirming crits without the enhancements.
5) They are very useful if you plan on Stunning/Sunder/Trip, ect. They should stack.
6) No use at all.

Hope some of that is helpful. I'm certainly not an expert. ~_%

[Ap0k]

I have an old THF WF Kensai toon I'm thinking of playing again.

1) What are the major differences and pros/cons to a Kensei vrs a Barb? I've never played a barb.
2) On a WF Kensei...are the 2nd and 3rd tiers of healers' friend worth it? 10 AP for 10% healing amp seems expensive.
3) Does the Quickdraw feat remove the casting time of Kensei Power Surge and Fighter Haste Boost?
4) How important is the Fighter Critical Accuracy enhancement? How much does this actually contribute to the % chance of a getting a critical?
5) How important are the WF tactics enhancements and fighter strategy enhancements (how much do the enhancements increase the success rate?) and do they stack with each other?


Thanks!

Hello!
1) I will name the most important ones in my opinion:
- Kensai does crit more often, but relies on one signature weapon and has to have a lot of feats devoted to one type of damage (for THF thats either blunt or slashing..99% go for slashing)
-Kensai relies on surges and speedboosts ..standard amount is 8 surges/boosts which can be enhanced with items by two and enhancements...not sure if WF have extra boost enhancements
-barb does a lot more damage and has a much higher flexibility in regards to weapons. Barbs gain there damage not from feats like fighters but from raw strength from rages and well some standard damage feats like THF line/power attack and imp crit. Barbs can pretty much perma rage while fighters have to be more careful about when to surge since its more limited (at least in longer encounters)
-barb is faster and more fun...does more damage and can easily achieve a large amount of hitpoints with just one toughness feat (some people claim to not use toughness at all on a barb..but meh...i dont like that idea)
-fighter can have all the tactics feats, though DCs on a barb would be higher due to much higher str, especially on WF and dwarf builds that have racial tactics enhancements...these are usually too expensice to take more then 2.

2) not sure, since i dont have a WF melee....but 10 ap for 10% is definitly not cost/benefit efficient, try getting 10% and 20% on DT docent or 20%on tod ring and 30% from epic gloves of the claw (eclaw set is a must have for a well equipped melee anyway)

3) quikdraw shortens the time between "casting" a boost or surge and being able to attack again. If you try it youll notice a small delay before you can get beack to swinging your weapon

4) fighter critical accuracy is a prereq "waste" enhancement. is helps you confirem criticals, which at least on my melees has not been a problem ...maybe for elob or so it could make a miniscule difference. dont take more then absolutely needed to fullfill the PRE requirements!

5) that depends on how many tactics feats you have/use and your equipment ingeneral. If you have Imp Trip and use the E Deneith chain, your base trip DC is 29, add another 15 from 40 str and your at 44, now add 4 from fighter and 2 from racial enh (which do fully stack) and you sport a whopping 50 dc. which is enough to trip anything with the exception of epic 4/6/8 legged creatures. if your serious about tactics the spare hand from challenges is a must.

for stunning blow which doesnt have anything to boots its dc like the deneith chain (ok lob weapons with stunning dc +10, but I dont know many people who really have and use one) the enhancements become more and more important. Stunning Blow is a fort based save so you really need it as high as possible and then you still wont stun anything on epic with the exception of some casters (or anything in the new pack...those guys just dont have any saves at all, except the dogs)

Imp sunder: well I use it for the fort debuff before I use stunning blow...I get that even on a failed sunder so idc about the dc of that.
6) DR doesnt stack...EVER! dont waste a single AP on that. my melees often run around with some form or another of 5 DR/something from items

[Munkenmo]

I have an old THF WF Kensai toon I'm thinking of playing again.

1) What are the major differences and pros/cons to a Kensei vrs a Barb? I've never played a barb.
2) On a WF Kensei...are the 2nd and 3rd tiers of healers' friend worth it? 10 AP for 10% healing amp seems expensive.
3) Does the Quickdraw feat remove the casting time of Kensei Power Surge and Fighter Haste Boost?
4) How important is the Fighter Critical Accuracy enhancement? How much does this actually contribute to the % chance of a getting a critical?
5) How important are the WF tactics enhancements and fighter strategy enhancements (how much do the enhancements increase the success rate?) and do they stack with each other?
6) Any use in taking any of the WF DR enhancements?


Thanks!

1) Barbs have to do vicious damage to themselves to keep up / outdps fighters, so are generally more expensive to level / heal.

2) as long as you focus on healing amp gear 20% tod ring /30% gloves of claw (maybe 10% dragon touched) only get tier 1

3) quickdraw lowers the down time from power surge / haste boost. it doesn't eliminate it.

4) consider it wasted ap, invest only what you need to as a pre req.

5) they stack, so if you're planning on sundering/tripping/stunning these are pretty handy.

6) i've made a w/f adamantine kensai fighter, i spent 4 feats, and a tonne of ap to get dr 10/ adamantine, it's not worth the investment, if you follow my route you'll realise it's a flavor build and not optimal at all.

[JeisonBlade]

*snip*6) DR doesnt stack...EVER! *snip*

normally yes, but WF and adamantine DR is the exception. I still wouldnt bother with it for a kensai, but for the record the DR enhancements, Improved DR feats and Adamantine Body feats DO stack.